The Blast

 

The Blast

         What’s new? .... Nothing.

     A huge, deafening  blast, wild fire,  canopy of smoke, pool of blood,  mutilated, half burned bodies, groaning men, women and children, conscious, semiconscious, dead, on the verge of death, human flesh spread all over, common man in a hurry to help, wounded  bundled in to a tempo traveler, an auto rickshaw, rushing photographers, running media, a flash of breaking news and high level meetings, NIA, NSG all on the spot, VVIP visits to the spot and hospitals, their security adding to the woes of relatives of injured, strong words, vows to fight, call to unite, stay calm, denouncing  the act, cowardly act, the culprits will be brought to book, declaration of compensation,…..

Anything  new?.... no not at all.

   Discussion on the box, analysis by the pundits,  criticism of the govt., demand of resignations, search for foreign hand,  discussion at all corners, fear of loss of loved ones, anxiety to call, send SMS to loved ones to ensure their safety, search for the missing, call for the blood donation, painful search of bodies, ascending figures of dead, tears…, tears…, tears…, in the eyes of victims, their relatives and all sensitive people ………  Missing in the picture clueless police, uninstalled cctv, installed cctv malfunctioning, no intelligence, not so specific intelligence, no alert before, red alert after, systemic apathy, ………..

Anything  new?.....  no, not at all.

     A human tragedy, recurring with terrifyingly short time span.  Unfortunately  we have another tens of Indians dead, hundreds have lost their dear ones and thousands are mourning. The resilience is applauded, we are back to work, in the day to struggle the disaster is forgotten only to be remembered on anniversary, in couple of days everything is normal, hunt for the terrorist is on…………..

Anything new?....  no,  not at all.

     Govt. swings for the political damage control, police for the investigation, opposition for the attack, press conferences of men in uniform, clues, possible leads, temporary arrests, arrests, unregistered arrests, linking of religion, questioned integrity,  picked up innocents, condoned  guilty, no fixing of responsibilities, experts lamenting  about incompetent  intelligence gathering, political interference in appointment, transfer and protection of ineffectual men in uniform. All call for police reforms. Competent men must get sensitive posting. We need no nonsense men leading khaki. All political parties say this when in opposition and forget conveniently when in power. Nobody wants police reforms. Those in power want control over police to serve political ends, want men of their choice at various police stations, don’t want all criminals to be arrested, all the cases to be investigated, want to apply proper selection criterion before action. Do police have time to gather intelligence? Are they misused, underpaid, bullied and overworked?

Anything new?....  no, not at all.

   Police reforms gather dust, life goes on unchanged, all return to routine, normal life. We want leaders close to our identity, leaders want pliable police, police want plum  postings, criminals enjoy, patriots lament and enemy ….. seal the tragedy. The investigation hits dead end, misery of the dead is endless……Anything new,  no,  not at all.

Anything new?.....  no,  not at all.

    Yes... Yes... The list of the dead is new. List of the injured is new. List of those with irreparable loss is new. List with broken bodies, destroyed spirit of life is new. Eyes seeking new meaning to life are new.

This tribute is new.

Breaking news tomorrow will be new.

Months afterwards breaking news ……. of …. the.... bl..……will be…….